Lean bulk advice

ieuanmfp

Hi this is my first bulk and I want to keep fat gain to a minimum,I hope to gain between 0.5-1lbs per week.my question is could I increase my calories by 1000 on training days(4days per week) and a calorie deficit of 500 on rest days Or does zig zagging mess things up ? Any advice would be helpful as each Internet site states something different ,so what worked well for you and what didn't .thanks

RidgeCoffman

Your muscles are going to need the calories on rest days to recover and build more muscle tissue.

leajas1

Hi. Use this macro calculator to figure out what your daily calories should be (just scroll down into the article and you'll see it). It'll take you about 10% over your daily expenditure so that you'll gain, but the fat gain will be minimal - it's unavoidable.
https://legionathletics.com/macronutrient-calculator/

ninerbuff

ieuanmfp wrote: »

Hi this is my first bulk and I want to keep fat gain to a minimum,I hope to gain between 0.5-1lbs per week.my question is could I increase my calories by 1000 on training days(4days per week) and a calorie deficit of 500 on rest days Or does zig zagging mess things up ? Any advice would be helpful as each Internet site states something different ,so what worked well for you and what didn't .thanks

Math helps here. So you increase 4000 calories then reduce by 1500 calories. So you're taking in an extra 2500 calories a week to gain weight. This will be a slow weight gain, but to what extent is going to depend on your training and nutrition.
You just can't rely on protein for the calories, you'll need a mixture of carbs and fats in there too. And you'll have to train progressively to increase muscle mass. But you're going to add fat no matter what.
Personally, I was skinny, so I just ate up to bulk up. Pizza and fast food (along with whole foods) helped me put on mass pretty fast and I cut up occasionally to see the results.
I tried the "slow" result route and didn't have the patience for it. To this day, I've not been disappointed in my approach from when I first started.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Jams009

Just keep it steady at a moderate surplus. Muscle growth is still happening on your rest days.

HamsterManV2

Lean bulk = TDEE + 200 to 300 calories for +0.5lbs per week. If you want to go even slower, you can do lean bulk on work out days, and maintenance at TDEE on rest days. Though I recommend just go slow bulk at +250 calories daily... muscles are rebuilt on rest days and you need to fuel that process.

trigden1991

0.5-1lb a week is fast if you want to reduce the amount of fat you gain. Aim for 1-2lbs a month.

ieuanmfp

Thank you for all the advice ,I didn't realise that recovery was as important as it (I downplayed it in my mind),I will now keep a moderate calorie surplus including split between workout days and recovery day ,I will use the calorie calculator mentioned by leajas1 and thanks again to everyone who left advice it's nice to know what has actually worked personally not a jumble of fitness models trying to push products and fitness plans

leajas1

Good luck and have fun with the surplus! I'll be doing my first bulk in September and I'm looking forward to it.

ndj1979

eat in a consistent surplus of 250 calories over maintenance, and make sure you follow a structured lifting regimen..

omar57

when lean bulking aim for 1-2lbs a MONTH, you only have to be slightly above maintenance calories 100-250, if you're putting on a 1lb a week its more than likely fat as naturals it take time to build muscle. And the biggest thing is to be consistent and make sure you're getting all the calories and train 4-6 days a week. Also on rest days don't eat less those are the days where your body can actually use extra to recover therefore making your training that much more effective. I am bulking as well good luck be patient and consistent!